Volume 18, Number 3

November 2013

Olympiad Corner
Below are the problems of the North
Korean Team Selection Test for IMO
2013.
Problem 1. The incircle of a
non-isosceles triangle ABC with the
center I touches the sides BC, CA, AB at
A1, B1, C1 respectively. The line AI
meets the circumcircle of ABC at A2.
The line B1C1 meets the line BC at A3
and the line A2A3 meets the circumcircle of ABC at A4 (A2). Define B4, C4
similarly. Prove that the lines AA4, BB4,
CC4 are concurrent.
(continued on page 4)

Sequences
Kin Y. Li
Sequence problems occur often in
math competitions. Below we will look
at some of these problems involving
limits in their solutions.

Example 3. Let a1, a2, a3, be a

sequence of positive numbers. Prove that
there exists infinitely many n such that
1+an > 21/n an1.

Example 1. (1980 British Math

Olympiad) Find all real a0 such that the
sequence defined by an+1=2n3an for
n=0,1,2, satisfies a0<a1<a2<.

Solution. Assume not. Then there is a M

such that for all n>M, we have 1+an
21/n an1. Since (1+1/n)n 2, we have

Solution. We have

We claim that for k M,

an 1 2 3an 2 3 2
n

n 1

a 1 k 1 1
.
ak (k 1) M
M 1 j M 1 j

3 an 1
2

2 n (3) j 2 n j (3) n 1 a0

The case k = M is true as the right side is

aM. Suppose case k is true. By (*),

j 1

IMO 2016 Logo Design Competition

Hong Kong will host the 57th
International Mathematical Olympiad
(IMO) in July 2016. The Organising
Committee now holds the IMO 2016
Logo Design Competition and invites
all secondary school students in Hong
Kong to submit logo designs for the
event. Your design may win you $7,000
book coupons and become the official
logo of IMO 2016! For details, please
visit
www.imohkc.org.hk.
Editors: (CHEUNG Pak-Hong), Munsang College,
HK
(KO Tsz-Mei)
(LEUNG Tat-Wing)
(LI Kin-Yin), Dept. of Math., HKUST
(NG Keng-Po Roger), ITC, HKPU
Artist:

(YEUNG Sau-Ying Camille), MFA, CU

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Elina Chiu, Math. Dept.,

HKUST for general assistance.
On-line:
http://www.math.ust.hk/mathematical_excalibur/
The editors welcome contributions from all teachers and
students. With your submission, please include your
name, address, school, email, telephone and fax numbers
(if available). Electronic submissions, especially in MS
Word, are encouraged. The deadline for receiving
material for the next issue is December 21, 2013.
For individual subscription for the next five issues for the
09-10 academic year, send us five stamped self-addressed
envelopes. Send all correspondence to:
Dr. Kin-Yin LI, Math Dept., Hong Kong Univ. of Science
and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Fax: (852) 2358 1643
Email: makyli@ust.hk
Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology

an 21/n an11((n+1)/n)an11. (*)

2n 1
1
a0 (3) n 1.
5
5

k2
k2
k2
ak 1
ak
k 1
k 1
k2
aM 1 k 2 1
(k 2)
.
M 1 j M 1 j

ak 1

If a0=1/5, then it is good. If a0 1/5, then

since (2/3)n goes to 0 as n, so an/3n
will have the same sign as (a01/5)(1)n
when n is large. Hence, an < an+1 will not
hold, contradiction.
Example 2. (1971-1972 Polish Math
Olympiad) Prove that when n tends to
infinity, the sum of the digits of 1972n in
base 10 will go to infinity.
n

Solution. Let ai be the i-th digit of 1972

from right to left in base 10. For 1 k
n/4, we claim that among ak+1, ak+2,,
a4k, at least one of them is nonzero.

This concludes the induction. As k,

the above sum of 1/j goes to infinity,
hence some ak+1< 0, contradiction.
Example 4. (2007 Chinese Math
Olympiad) Let {an}n1 be a bounded
sequence satisfying
an

2 n 2006

k n

Prove that an < 1/n for n = 1,2,3,.

Solution. Let bn=an1/n. Then for n1,

Assume not. Then let

C = a1+a210++ak10

k 1

bn

We have 1972nC divisible by 104k.

Since 4k n, so C is divisible by 24k =
16k > 10k > C, contradiction.
From the claim, we get at least one digit
in each of the following m+1 groups of
digits will not be zero

a2 , a3 , a4 ,
a5 , a6 , a7 , , a16 ,

a j 1, a j 2 , a j 3 , , a4 j ,
where n/16<j=4m n/4. The digit sum of
1972n is at least m+1 > (log4 n)1. So,
the digit sum of 1972n goes to infinity.

ak
1

, n 1,2,3,.
k 1 2n 2007

2 n 2006

k n

bk
.
k 1

(*)

It suffices to show bn< 0. Since an is

bounded, so there is a constant M such
that bn<M. For n >100,000, we have
bn

2 n 2006

k n

2 n 2006
bk
1
M
k 1
k n k 1

[ 3n / 2 ]

k n

2 n 2006
1
1
M
k 1
k [ 3 n / 2 ] 1 k 1

M
2006 n / 2 6

M
M.
7
2
1 3n / 2

Repeating this m times, if n > 100,000,

then bn < (6/7)mM. Letting m, we get
bn 0 for n > 100,000. Using (*), we see
if for nN+1, we have bn<0, then bN<0.
This gives bn< 0 for n 1.

Page 2

Mathematical Excalibur, Vol. 18, No. 3, Nov. 13

IMO 2013 Leader Report(II)

Leung Tat-Wing
We will continue with our discussion
on the IMO 2013 problems, which can
be found in the Olympiad Corner of the
last issue of Math Excalibur.

equations. For examples, put x= a and

y = 1, one gets a f (1) = f (a) f (1) f (a)
= a, hence f(1) 1. We let f(1) = c 1.
By induction, one can then show f (n)
nc, for all natural numbers n. So in
particular f (n) is positive. Now we
show f (x) is strictly increasing. Indeed
if f (x+x) f (x) for some positive
rational numbers x and x, then

Problem 4: There are more than 19

different solutions and surely there are
more. It is possible to solve the problem
using complicated angle chasings and/or
coordinate geometry. But of course the
basic or most natural approach is to look
at the radical axis of the two circles. The
following proof is given by Lau Chun
Ting, a team member of ours.

f (x) f (x+x) f (x) + f (x),

Problem 3: The problem was selected

in the very last minute of the Jury
meetings. Indeed another geometry
problem concerning properties of
hexagons was initially selected as a
member of the hard pair. It was
however discovered the problem was
similar to an USAMO problem. I
myself also recalled several similar
problems. So the problem was rejected
and replaced by this problem 3. After
the selection process, it was announced
both problem 3 and 6 come from
Russia, indeed a problem similar to
problem 4 was also found in a Russian
geometry problem book. Truly the
Russians are masters of posing
problems!
Despite being a difficult problem
(solved by 40 contestants), problem 3
is indeed a pure geometry problem and
can be solved by pure synthetic
geometry method. Indeed denote the
circumcircles of ABC and A1B1C1 by
and respectively and let Q be the
centre of the circumcircle of A1B1C1.
Let A0 be the midpoint of arc BC
containing A, and define B0 and C0
respectively. Then one can check
A0B1=A0C1 and A,A0,B1,C1 concyclic.
(Likewise B0C1=B0C1 and B,B0,C1,A1
concyclic; C0A1=C0B1 and C,C0,B1,A1
concyclic.) One then consider the
largest angle of A1B1C1, say B1, and if
Q is on , then Q must coincide with B0,
and hence B=90, not easy though!

A0
A

C1
B1
C0

B0
Q
B

A1

therefore f (x) 0. However, we also

have f (n) f (x) f (nx). Now since
f (x) 0, so we must also have f (nx)
0 for all n, however surely we can
find n so that nx is a natural number
and f (nx) is positive, a contradiction.
Using the same argument, we can show
f(x)> 0 for all positive rational numbers.
One then proceeds to show f(1) = 1.
Hence f (x) = x for all positive rationals.
I am not going to produce all the details
here. Suffices to say, we often need to
expand a positive rational number in
terms of a, say for a rational number b
< a, it is of the form

X
N

M
H

w1
Y
B

D
w2

Suppose 1 and 2 meet at another point

P (W). Since WPX =WPY = 90, so
X, P and Y are collinear. To show H lies on
XY, (X, Y, H collinear), it suffices to show
HPW = 90. Suppose now AH meets
BC at D. Now B, N, M, C are concyclic
(since BNC =BMC = 90), we have
ANAB=AMAC. So the powers of the
point A with respect to the circles 1 and
2 are the same, that means A lies on the
radical axis WP, or A, P, W collinear
(radical axis theorem). Now note that H,
M, C, D are also concyclic, hence
AHAD=AMAC (quite a few concyclic
conditions). As before

k0

some kind of a-adic expansion!

Problem 6: Problem 6 is even harder
than problem 3, only 7 contestants
solved it. A nice point of the problem is
that it links a geometric fact
(intersecting chords) to a certain
number property, and the relation is an
exact relation (M=N+1). For n=3, the
beautiful labellings are given below
(we always label 0 at the top).

AMAC=ANAB=APAW,
we get APAW=AHAD. Therefore, W, P,
H, D are concyclic and we get HPW =
90, as required.
Using coordinate attack, we may let
A=(a1,a2), B=(b,0), C=(c,0) and W=(0,0).
By computing slopes and equations of
lines, (complicated but still manageable),
one eventually gets the coordinates of X,
H and Y. Hence can verify X, H and Y
collinear by calculating slopes of XH and
HY.

k1 k2

(finite sum),
a a2

2 2

The pairs of positive integers satisfying

the stated property are (1,1), (1,2) and
(2,1). For n=4, to complete the list of
integers with the stated property, we
just have to consider those x and y
satisfying x+y=4. Indeed we get two
more pairs (1,3) and (3,1). Indeed the
six beautiful labellings are
0

Problem 5: For problem of this kind, one

can try many things to obtain partial
results. But the essential (crucial) part of
this problem is actually how to make use
of condition 3. Indeed if this condition is
released, then the function f(x) = bx2, with
b 1, will satisfy the first and second
condition. Now see what we can get by
putting different values of x and y into the

4
3
1
4

4
1

3 3
2

2 2

1 1

1
2

4
3

(continued on page 4)

Page 3

Mathematical Excalibur, Vol. 18, No. 3, Nov. 13

Problem Corner
We welcome readers to submit their
solutions to the problems posed below
for publication consideration. The
solutions should be preceded by the
solvers name, home (or email) address
and school affiliation. Please send
submissions to Dr. Kin Y. Li,
Department of Mathematics, The Hong
Kong University of Science &
Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon,
Hong Kong. The deadline for sending
solutions is December 21, 2013.
Problem 431. There are 100 people,
composed of 2 people from 50 distinct
nations. They are seated in a round
table. Two people sitting next to each
other are neighbors.
Prove that it is possible to divide the
100 people in two groups of 50 people
so that no 2 people from the same
nation are in the same group and each
person in a group has at most one
neighbor in the group.
Problem 432. Determine all prime
numbers p such that there exist integers
a,b,c satisfying a2 + b2 + c2 = p and
a4+b4+c4 is divisible by p.
Problem 433. Let P1, P2 be two points
inside ABC. Let BC = a, CA = b and
AB = c. For i = 1,2, let PiA = ai, PiB =
bi and PiC = ci. Prove that
aa1a2+bb1b2+cc1c2 abc.
Problem 434. Let O and H be the
circumcenter and orthocenter of
ABC respectively. Let D be the foot
of perpendicular from C to side AB. Let
E be a point on line BC such that ED
OD. If the circumcircle of BCH
intersects side AB at F, then prove that
points E, F, H are collinear.
Problem 435. Let n > 1 be an integer
that is not a power of 2. Prove that
there exists a permutation a1, a2,, an
of 1,2,, n such that
2k
0.
ak cos

n
k 1
n

*****************

Solutions

****************
Problem 426. Real numbers a, b, x, y
satisfy the property that for all positive
integers n, axn+byn =1+2n+1. Determine
(with proof) the value of xa+yb.

Solution. ngel PLAZA (Universidad de

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain).
Considering the generating functions of the
left and right sides of axn+byn =1+2n+1, we
have

ax z
n1

n n1

by z
n1

n n1

z 2 z .
n1

n1

n1 n1

n1

For |z| < min{1/2,1/|x|,1/|y|}, using the

geometric series formula, we have

ax
by
1
4

.
1 xz 1 yz 1 z 1 2 z
The right side is a rational function of z.
By the uniqueness of the partial fraction
decomposition, either ax=1, x=1, by=4,
y=2 or ax=4, x=2, by=1, y=1. In both cases,
xa+yb = 11+22 = 5.
Other commended solvers: CHAN Long
Tin (Cambridge University, Year 1),
CHEUNG Ka Wai (Munsang College
(Hong Kong Island)), Jeffrey HUI Pak
Nam (La Salle College, Form 6), KIM
Minsuk Luke (The South Island School,
Hong Kong, Year 13), KWOK Man Yi
(Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School,
Form 2), LO Wang Kin(Wah Yan College,
Kowloon), Math Group (Carmel Alison
Lam Foundation Secondary School), Alice
WONG Sze Nga (Diocesan Girls School,
Form 6) and Titu ZVONARU
(Comneti, Romania) and Neculai
STANCIU (George Emil Palade
Secondary School, Buzu, Romania).
Problem 427. Determine all (m,n,k),
where m, n, k are integers greater than 1,
such that 1! + 2! + + m! = nk.
Solution. Ioan Viorel CODREANU
(Secondary School Satulung, Maramures,
Romania), CHEUNG Ka Wai (Munsang
College (Hong Kong Island)), Jeffrey
HUI Pak Nam (La Salle College, Form 6),
KIM Minsuk Luke (The South Island
School, Hong Kong, Year 13), LO Wang
Kin (Wah Yan College, Kowloon),
Corneliu MNESCU-AVRAM (Henri
Mathias Berthelot Secondary School,
Ploieti, Romania School, Ploieti,
Romania), Math Group (Carmel Alison
Lam Foundation Secondary School) and
William PENG.
Let S(m)=1! + 2! + + m!. Then S(2)=3,
S(3) = 9 = 32, S(4) = 33 = 311, S(5) =
153 = 3217, S(6) = 873 = 3297, S(7) =
5913=3473, S(8)=46233 = 3211467.
For m > 8, since 9!0 (mod 33), so S(m)
S(8) 0 (mod 32) and S(m) S(8) 0
(mod 33). These imply that if S(m)=nk and
k > 1, then k = 2.

Since S(4)=333(mod 5), S(m)3 (mod

5). Now n2 0, 1, 4 (mod 5). So
S(m)n2. We have the only solution is
(m,n,k)=(3,3,2).
Problem 428. Let A1A2A3A4 be a
convex quadrilateral. Prove that the
nine point circles of A1A2A3,
A2A3A4, A3A4A1 and A4A1A2 pass
through a common point.
Solution. HOANG Nguyen Viet
(Hanoi, Vietnam), Jeffrey HUI Pak
Nam (La Salle College, Form 6),
Corneliu
MNESCU-AVRAM
(Henri Mathias Berthelot Secondary
School, Ploieti, Romania School,
Ploieti,
Romania),
Apostolis
MANOLOUDIS,
Math
Group
(Carmel Alison Lam Foundation
Secondary School) and Alice WONG
Sze Nga (Diocesan Girls School,
Form 6).
A2
U
A1
C1
P
V
Z
Y
X
A4 C
3

C2

A3

Let C1, C2, C3, C4 be the nine point

circles of A1A2A3,A2A3A4,A3A4A1,
A4A1A2 respectively. Let U, V, W, X,
Y, Z be the midpoints of A1A2, A2A3,
A3A4, A4A1, A1A3, A2A4 respectively. Let
C1 and C3 intersect at Y and P (in case
C1, C3 are tangent, P will be the same
as Y). We claim P is on C2. For that it
suffices to show P,V,W,Z are concyclic.
By the midpoint theorem, XY = A4A3
= WA3 and XW = A1A3 = YA3. So we
have (1) WXYA3 is a parallelogram.
Similarly, (2) YUVA3 and (3) WZVA3
are also parallelograms. Now (4)
P,U,V,Y are on C1 and (5) P,X,W,Y are
on C3. We have
VPW =YPV+YPW
=YUV +YXW by (4), (5)
=YA3V+YA3W by (2), (1)
=VA3W
=VZW by (3).
So P is on C2. Similarly, P is on C4.
Other commended solvers: William
FUNG, Titu ZVONARU (Comneti,
Romania) and Neculai STANCIU
(George Emil Palade Secondary
School, Buzu, Romania).

Page 4

Mathematical Excalibur, Vol. 18, No. 3, Nov. 13

Problem 429. Inside ABC, there is a
point P such that APB =BPC =
CPA. Let PA = u, PB = v, PC = w,
BC = a, CA = b and AB = c. Prove that
(u v w) ab bc ca
2

a(b c a) b(c a b) .

Solution. LO Wang Kin (Wah Yan

College, Kowloon).
B
P

A
b

B'

P'
a

Rotate ABC about C by 60 away

from A. Let the images of B, P be B, P
respectively. As PCP = 60=BCB,
so PCP and BCB are equilateral.
As BPC =CPA=120, A, P, P, B
are collinear. So AB = AP+PP+PB
= u+w+v. By the cosine law, AB2 =
a2+b22ab cos(C+60).
After expansion and cancellation, the
right side of the desired inequality
becomes

Salle College, Form 6) and Math Group

(Carmel Alison Lam Foundation Secondary
School).

2) Determine the maximum value

which all 9 numbers turn out to be
equal to after some steps.

Take a person P out of the 2n+2 people.

Suppose among the remaining 2n+1
people, he knows k of them and does not
know 2n+1k of them. Among these 2n+1
people, there are 2n+1C2 = n(2n+1) pairs.
Call a pair good if P knows both of them
or does not know both of them, bad if P
knows one, but not both. By the AM-GM
inequality, there are at most k(2n+1k)
(n+)2 = n2+n bad pairs. Adding up
all the bad pairs for all 2n+2 people, the
number is at most (2n+2)(n2+n) =
2n(n+1)2. There are 2n+2C2=(n+1)(2n+1)
pairs altogether. Since the average

Problem 5. The incircle of a

quadrilateral ABCD touches AB, BC,
CD, DA at E, F, G, H, respectively.
Choose an arbitrary point X on the
segment AC inside . The segments
XB, XD meet at I, J respectively.
Prove that FJ, IG, AC are concurrent.

2n(n 1) 2
2n(n 1)

n 1,
(n 1)(2n 1)
2n 1

some pair {A, B} will be a bad pair for at

most n of the remaining 2n people. Then
at least n other people will call {A,B} a
good pair and we are done.

Olympiad Corner

a b ab 2 ab(b c a)(c a b).

2

Now
ab(b c a )(c a b)
a2 b2 c2

ab 21
2ab

ab 2(1 cos C ) .

ab(1 2 2(1 cosC) cosC 3 sinC)

Problem 2. Let a1, a2,, ak be numbers

such that ai{0,1,2,3}, i=1 to k and z = (xk,
xk1,,x1)4 be a base 4 expansion of z
{0, 1, 2, , 4k1}. Define A as follows:
A={z | p(z)=z, z=0,1,2,,4k1}, where
k

p( z ) ai xi 4i 1.
i 1

Prove that |A| is a power of 2. (|X| denotes

the number of elements in X).

and we are done.

Problem 3. Find all a,b,c, c 0 such

that (an+2n)| bn+c for all positive integers
n, where 2ab is non-square.

Other commended solvers: CHEUNG

Ka Wai (Munsang College (Hong
Kong Island)), T. W. LEE (Alumni of
New Method College), Math Group
(Carmel Alison Lam Foundation
Secondary School) and Alice WONG
Sze Nga (Diocesan Girls School,
Form 6).

Problem 4. Positive integers 1 to 9 are

written in each square of a 33 table. Let
us define an operation as follows: Take an
arbitrary row or column and replace these
numbers a, b, c with either non-negative
numbers ax, bx, c+x or a+x, bx, cx,
where x is a positive number and can vary
in each operation.

2ab 1 cosC ( 2 1 cos(C 60 ) ) 0

Problem 430. Prove that among any

2n+2 people, there exist two of them,
say A and B, such that there exist n of
the remaining 2n people, each either
knows both A and B or does not know
A nor B. Here, x knows y does not
necessarily imply y knows x.
Solution. Jeffrey HUI Pak Nam (La

IMO 2013Leader Report (II)

(continued from page 2)

The problem is how to connect the

geometry and the number theory
information. In general, how to get
started? I can only describe it roughly
from the official solution. Call three
chords aligned if one of them separates
the other two. For more than three
chords, they are aligned if any three of
them aligned.

(Continued from page 1)

Using these, the right side minus the

left side of the desired inequality is
ab(1 2 2(1 cosC) 2 cos(C 60))

Problem 6. Show that x3+x+a2=y2 has

at least one pair of positive integer
solution (x,y) for each positive integer
a.

1) Does there exist a series of operations

such that all 9 numbers turn out to be
equal from the following initial
arrangement a) ?, b) ?
1
4
7

2
5
8
a)

3
6
9

2
9
6

8
3
7
b)

5
4
1

A
B
D

In the figure the chords A, B and C are

aligned (the line formed by B separated
the two chords A and C; while B, C and
D are not aligned (none of the lines
formed by B, C or D separates the other
two chords). Now call a chord a
k-chord if the sum of its two endpoints
is k (the chord may be degenerated into
a point of value k). The crucial
observation is: in a beautiful labeling,
the k-chords are aligned for any k. To
prove this claim, one proceeds by
induction. Indeed the only case is when
there are three chords not aligned and
such that one of the chords has
endpoints 0 and n. After the claim is
proved, one proceeds again using
delicate induction arguments to show
M=N+1. Indeed the beautiful labellings
are eventually divided into classes.
Elements of the first class are as before
in the induction step. Elements of the
second class correspond precisely with
the pairs of positive integers satisfying
x+y=n and gcd(x,y)=1, (which
correspond exactly to the elements {x |
1 x n, gcd(x,y) = 1} with size (n).
Tough!